When coworkers remind you of relatives

One of the nice things about moving 6,900 miles away from the States is that those relatives I didn't like stay at home. At first emails are sent to say "hiya doing" and then after a while, they are no longer on your minds nor theirs. It is the natural order of things: when you are out of sight, you are often out of mind. Especially with those marginal relatives (think cousins, whatevers, etc) who you felt obliged to be nice to and visit on occasion with your mom or dad. They feel a relief too, I imagine. They may ask "how is (insert what's-his/her" name) doing?" but it's often not sincere or genuine. They know by asking by proxy that they are being nice. I'm not complaining, you see. Being so far away gives me an excuse and distance something that I like because when the math is done (simple subtraction), I didn't care for them that much and now it's obvious to them as is to me: nobody cared for each other...They would go to my funeral though.

You could argue that if they really cared about me, in spite of my malfeasance, they could have maintained contact. But, they didn't. You could argue that I should have maintained contact but I didn't. It rinses out in the wash, as they say in that cliche. I'm not complaining, you see.

We put up with our relatives (marginal and others) with their antics, inconsiderate behavior, we give them so much lee-way in being "who they are" simply because they are blood relatives. Who wants that anymore? Hmm. By not communicating with them shown that our culture and society has moved beyond blood ties? Is it the paradox of email that the more convenient it is to communicate, the less we do so? Has "losing" the traditional family arrangement made our society stronger or weaker or just indifferent? Is there anything gained or lost? The great thing about family, you can pick up where you left off from. So, in a month or year or two I could drop by and say "hello" and be welcomed. So, I think.

Oh, yeah! The purpose of this blog entry. Get to it Palmer! Bali-bali, Het-a (that's Korean for hurry up, yo-yo!) There's a coworker here who reminds me of a marginal relative there. I haven't talked to my relative in a long time. My coworker in Korea has very similar personality quirks that bring out in me certain feelings I don't like about my relative/s. I guess I am a little slow but 6,900 miles away I realize that!

That's the latest and greatest from Suwon, the Galbi capital of Korea. Have a great day.